"They Shoot Urkels, Don't They?" is an episode in the sixth season of Family Matters.
Fletcher and Estelle host a dance marathon, and everyone in the Winslow family (plus Steve and Myra) participate. Carl and Steve, however, hold on to a personal grudge against one another after an arm-wrestling contest between them, and tension spills over to the dance marathon where they insist on outlasting the other in it. In the meanwhile, Laura meets Bob, a cousin of Waldo's, as her partner for the dance marathon and gets worried upon discovering that he's over a head shorter than she is.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Competition Freak: Following an arm wrestling contest between Carl and Steve, they both become obsessed with beating the other in the upcoming dance marathon so much that even calling it a draw doesn't suffice for them. It takes dancing nonstop throughout the nighttime AND dawning hours all the way to daybreak, by which point both are reduced to dancing with continually lowering body from sheer exhaustion until they lie flat on the floor simultaneously, before they finally call it a draw.
- Dance Party Ending: The cast members and other contestants including musical guest All 4 One dance via Soul Train Line as the closing credits roll.
- Height Angst: Laura's issue with Bob in a nutshell. While Laura is not bigoted, she finds it uneasy to relax around Bob, which culminates in her using the word "midget" when talking about an unrelated topic. Laura apologizes profusely at once, Bob takes it in stride in return, and they talk it over amicably.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title of this episode, "They Shoot Urkels, Don't They?", is a Shout-Out to They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, which had a live-action movie adaptation in 1969.
- Overly Long Name: According to Waldo, the full length of his cousin's name is actually "Bob-a-Long-Ding-Dong", which is why he goes by "Bob". He also mentions that the name of Bob's sister is "Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann".
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Late in the episode, Harriett proposes for Carl and Steve to call it a draw so everyone can go home happily, especially since everybody is exhausted from dancing for hours at the dance marathon, but Carl and Steve, who are stubbornly competitive against each other throughout the episode (and the dance marathon as well), refuse, resulting to both her and Myra leaving, followed by everyone who's still in the dance hall, including Fletcher, Estelle, and the D.J. providing the dance music, and so Carl and Steve continue dancing in the now-empty dance hall by themselves.Harriett: Carl... you're walking home. [leaves]
Myra: Steve, you know I love you with all my heart and soul... [taking one of her high-heel shoes off] but not my feet. [leaves]
Fletcher: Oh, man, you two are the only ones left? And you don't even have partners. It's over. We're hopping on our Harley and we're going home. [leaves with Estelle]
Dance marathon D.J.: I'm right behind you. [turns off electronic keyboard and lights before leaving] - Tempting Fate:
- Early on in the dance marathon, Richie tells his dance partner that they can beat their competition... provided that the event ends by 10 P.M. Carl and Steve letting their obsession for beating the other in said event get the best of them guarantees that Richie and his dance partner won't get that chance, as they outlast everyone else, the hosts (Estelle and Fletcher) and the D.J. included, and dance all the way to daybreak.
- When more and more participants become exhausted and begin to trickle out of the dance hall, Carl starts feeling giddy upon noticing Steve moving with a limp and decides to show him up with a flashy dance move, which only serves to give him a terrible backache that lasts through the rest of the episode for his trouble.
